The Reader Organisation runs an innovative and very successful reader development and social outreach project called 'Get Into Reading'. We run these groups in public libraries and also in other community settings: hostels, care homes, hospitals, schools and day centres.
The Reader Organisation is a charity which aims to bring about a Reading Revolution, changing the way the nation responds to, and uses, books: we want to put great books – Shakespeare, Chekhov, Milton as well as Mitch Albom and Frank Cottrell Boyce – into the hands of people who need them.
We currently deliver 146 community read aloud weekly reading groups through the Get Into Reading project, mainly in Merseyside and increasingly across the UK. With the development of Read to Lead Training it’s spreading across the UK, with groups in Durham, East Lancashire, Essex, London, Salford and the South West.
What’s different about these groups is that short stories, novels and poems are read aloud by one of our trained facilitators (members can choose to join in, but there’s no pressure to). This provides immediate engagement with the text, which is enriched by the spontaneous sharing of life stories and experiences as confidence builds over time. The groups meet week-in-week-out, providing valuable structure and support. Both of these elements are integral to the success of Get Into Reading.
On 8th January, we host our very first Get Into Reading Conference in Liverpool, bringing together librarians, authors, trained Get Into Reading facilitators, potential commissioners, readers and medical professionals. This is a great way to find out more about the project - visit our website for further details: http://www.thereader.org.uk/conference-readers-day.html
I hope that this of help. Please get in touch if you would like to find out anything further.
Best wishes,
Jen
Jen Tomkins
Communications Manager
Currently reading Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre
the reader organisation
19 Abercromby Square
Liverpool L69 7ZG
tel: +44 (0)151 794 3849
www.thereader.org.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Reader Development Mailing List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Kenvyn
Sent: 21 December 2009 13:40
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Reader Development at a high level of abstraction
There is no better place to start than "The Reader Friendly Library
Service", if you want to understand reader development. I think that you
are right that you cannot get everything onto one page, and it looks like
you have made a good stab at it.
One of the key factors in our ability as librarians to extend the reading
experience of library users is that we are trusted. We are not selling
anything. We have not been paid to put a particular title in a particular
position in our libraries, nor to put a particular title into a promotion.
The only reason for a book to be in a library promotion is that one of the
library staff thinks that it is worth bringing to the attention of our
readers. To put it succinctly, our readers trust us to recommend titles.
Here in Scotland, we have taken great pains over the years to promote local
writers, through author talks, reading groups, book promotions, and we have
been extremely successful audience developers for local writing talent,
which include both Scottish writers, and writers living in Scotland
regardless of their country of origin. I expect that Wales, Northern
Ireland and the English regions have similar experiences in this kind of
work.
We also had a huge fight on our hands in terms of getting literature to be
considered as part of the Culture Bill going through the Scottish
Parliament, which was achieved eventually. I am only flagging this up
because we work in a different political environment to libraries south of
the border, with different funding streams, and it is important to remember
that.
I hope this helps. Please do not hesitate to contact me, if you think
that I can be of any further use.
Regards
David Kenvyn,
Assistant Manager, Community Libraries
East Dunbartonshire Council
Tel: 0141 775 4519
Fax: 0141 776 0408
E-Mail: As above
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